What It Means To Be Family
by Ausumgirls1313
Summary: Keith has a disastrous conversation with his mom that leaves him feeling hurt and unwanted. The rest of the paladins need to pick up the pieces and show Keith what love is before they lose him forever. Mild Klance. Hurt!Keith
1. My Mom?

A/N Rated T because I'm paranoid and it's a sensitive topic. This story is based on a picture I saw on Instagram. I can't find it again though : ( If anyone sees it please tell me so I can give proper credit to the artist because their art really is amazing!

Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron. Never have. Never will. Although I wish I did.

Trigger Warning: Past Child Abandonment! Don't like, don't read!

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"Why would you leave me?"

Those five words were spoken with such heart-wrenching emotion that Lance had to look away for a second. He glanced to his left to where Hunk sat, Pidge folded neatly in his lap. Neither moved or made a sound. They just sat there staring at the scene unfolding in front of them with a kind of morbid curiosity lingering behind their teary eyes.

All of a sudden, Lance felt a hand placed on his shoulder. He jumped a little and spun around, coming face to face with Shiro, the Black Paladin, also known as the head of Voltron. Lance let out a quiet breath once he realized it was only Shiro trying to reassure him and perhaps distract him from what was happening on the other side of the vent grate that they were looking through. Lance smiled at Shiro, reassuring him that he was fine or he would be fine in a minute after his heart stopped racing a little.

Lance sat down quietly and leaned against the back wall of the room they were hiding in, turning his attention back to the situation at hand. He immediately saw two figures in the room both very different from each other except for one thing that stood out to Lance. Both of their body languages were the polar opposite of their facial expressions. One stood tall, shoulders drawn back and looking as if she was ready for battle, but her ears were drooping and she looked like a kicked puppy that lost it's chew toy. And the other looked very small, thin and frail with hunched shoulders and bent knees. However, his eyes were full of determination, lips drawn back in a snarl and eyebrows scrunched in extreme hatred towards the person standing in front of him. It was unsettling to Lance.

He watched as a hand, belonging to the taller of the two figures in the room, slowly reached up with the intent to comfort, or at the very least calm down the other but she quickly got swatted at, the male letting out a quiet growl in warning as the taller one slowly lowered her hands and took a few steps back to give the other some space. She took a deep breath and shook her head slightly, her fingers playing with the hem of her shirt giving anyone watching the impression of nervousness.

"Keith, please listen to me. It's not what you think. I had to leave for the mission. You wouldn't understand but-"

The shorter, now Identified as Keith, took a step back curling into himself even more. He looked small and Lance briefly wondered if he would break something if he made himself smaller than he already was. He quickly brushed away that thought and turned his full attention back to Keith and the other person. Keith was shaking his head rapidly from left to right, as if trying to get rid of some nasty thought or image that just popped into his head. His neck was bent so far his chin rested on his chest and some of his collar bone. Lance watched as Keith's tongue darted out of his mouth and spread saliva over his lips, moistoning them and making it easier for him to talk. Keith opened his mouth once, twice, three times, until it looked like he was a fish gasping for air. Apparently he was trying to say something but he couldn't decide on the right words.

Finally, Keith looked up and stared the figure right in the eyes. His face had changed from a determined, self-reliant, sturdy face to a dead, disappointed, and broken one. Suddenly, Keith smiled and that in itself was enough to send Lance reeling. Keith almost _never_ smiled. It was like a rule! Keith was the serious one. The hotheaded one who had no problem sacrificing everything for what he believed in. But, the fact that Keith had smiled wasn't the only thing that had him on edge and suddenly worried. It was the _way_ he had smiled. It wasn't a happy smile. Anyone could see that. But, it also wasn't a completely sad smile. It was a smile that said "I finally figured out the answer to a question I've been asking myself but I don't like the answer", and, quite frankly, it scared the crap out of Lance. Lance knew something was wrong and he decided that whatever Keith said would definitely make Lance wanna cry.

Still, no matter how prepared Lance was for what Keith was about to say it wouldn't have made a difference to the shocking realization Lance had the moment after Keith uttered that sentence that changed the way Lance thought about everything concerning Keith. It still came as a shock to him that Keith was an orphan that was raised in foster care. And Lance was still upset that he didn't know until two weeks ago. It made him mad that Pidge, Shiro, Allura and him had all bared their heart and souls to Keith, along with their secrets, yet Keith didn't tell them anything until four months after they had met and decided to fight the Galra together. It pissed Lance off. And now Lance finds out that Keith has more secrets to share? It makes Lance extremely mad yet, somehow, very sad at the same time.

"No, I get it - mission first."

Lance watched as the tall figure stopped, nervous hands frozen, back straight. The figure's head snapped up to stare at Keith, eyes filled with desperation and regret. Lance didn't understand what the figure looked regretful for. Actually, Lance didn't understand anything about the conversation that was taking place in front of him. What mission? When did she leave? How did Keith even _know_ this person? And why did she look so regretful while Keith looked so hurt? Keith. The unstoppable brick wall that plows through dozens of galra in only a few minutes. Keith. The emo paladin of Voltron that acts like he doesn't care but would actually do anything for the other paladins. Keith. The paladin that trained harder and longer than anyone else to make absolutely sure that NO ONE would get hurt. Keith. The most useful paladin on the castle who was so absolutely _needed_ on the ship yet looked like he thought he was worthless. Thought he was useless. Thought that he wasn't needed.

No, Lance had absolutely no idea what was going on but he planned to fix it, no matter what. Eyes, hardening in determination, Lance focused back on the conversation happening between Keith and the other figure. Maybe Lance could figure something out by the end of it. He hoped so.

The other figure looked desperate now. Even more desperate than the last time Lance had looked at her. Her arms were flailing, moving anywhere and everywhere, and Lance winced slightly as she hit her hand off a metal pipe that was positioned directly up and to the right of her. But, the interruption and obvious pain that must of caused didn't stop her. She continued to move her hands about, as if trying to convey something to Keith using only her arms. She was frantically shaking her head back and forth, eyes wide and staring straight at Keith, who had his head bowed and was staring at his feet.

"No, Keith _please._ I did it to protect you I-"

Keith look up slowly and Lance could see the pure _anguish_ on his face. Keith had tears rolling down his cheeks, his shoulders shaking, and Lance wondered why he didn't notice that before. His eyes looked dead. Devoid of any emotion yet sad at the same time. He suddenly looked older too. Like just this conversation had made him age 10 years. Lance saw his mouth move and realized Keith was speaking again.

"Guess I wasn't a good enough reason to stay, huh?"

A sharp gasp came from his left but Lance had no clue who it was from. He was trying to figure out why none of this made sense. He knew that some foster kids had trouble believing in their self-worth so it wasn't that hard to believe that Keith felt that way too, but it doesn't explain who the other person was and when she left-

Oh. _Oh._ It all suddenly made sense to Lance and he cursed under his breath for not figuring it out sooner. The figure was Keith's _mom._ Lance knew how Keith had become an orphan. Everyone on the ship knew. Keith had told them right after he had revealed that he had no family. Keith's mom had left to supposedly go on some "Mission", which lance believes is a load of crap, and Keith's dad had died a few months later of Alcohol Poisoning. Apparently, he hadn't taken Krolia's absence very well and he ended up drinking way too much.

Lance turned his head to look at Shiro. Shiro looked defeated. Like he had known this would happen and had tried to delay the inevitable but it happened anyways. _He knew,_ Lance realized with a start. _Of course he knew!_ _Keith tells him everything. It's no wonder he knew about this too._ Lance stopped suddenly. What else did Shiro know about Keith that he wasn't able to tell anybody? What secrets were those two hiding from the rest of them? What could possibly be worse than having one parent die and the other one leave, resulting in Keith being an orphan? Lance would definitely find out. One way or another.

A sharp movement from Shiro had Lance refocusing on the leader of Voltron. He looked straight at Shiro for an explanation, but none ever came. Instead, Shiro was staring, transfixed, on something in the other room. Turning, to face the vent again, Lance's eyes widened in surprise as he stared through the slits in metal. Keith was staring directly at them. But that was impossible unless, he had x-ray vision or something and Lance was pretty sure one of the paladins would have figured that out already. But, the way Keith was just _staring_ at the vent made Lance believe that he actually did know the rest of the paladins were there.

However, instead of addressing the rest of them, Keith simply turned from the vent towards the door on the far side of the room and started walking. He walked slowly and carefully yet with a purpose. Like he was just concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. _He probably is_ Lance thought with a grimace _He's also probably trying his best not to cry._ Lance could tell because of the way Keith's shoulders shook when he walked. No sound came out when he cried, and Lance couldn't help but wonder if any of his foster families had something to do with that, but, Lance could still tell that he was on the edge of bawling his eyes out. He could hear Keith's steps getting quieter and quieter until he had opened the door and closed it behind him. Out of Lance's sight.

The other figure, _Krolia_ Lance remembered, sighed and ran a quick hand through her hair. She closed her eyes for a second, shoulders hunching as she drew in a slow breath. Then she straightened up a bit and turned on her heel towards the door on the opposite side of the room Keith had exited from. She walked faster than Keith, clearly wanting to get out of the room and not caring who saw her brisk escape. It was such a vast difference that it had Lance wanting to cry all over again. _Querido señor*. What were they gonna do now? How could they possibly repair the damage that has been done?_

* * *

 _*Quierdo señor_ is Dear Lord in Spanish. At least I think. My Spanish is a bit rusty (I haven't watched Dora in a while ; )) so it might be wrong. If it is please tell me!

I am sooo sorry for all the angst! Unless you're into that ; ) Just kidding! But, seriously I didn't plan for this to break my heart so much! All I wanted was a cute Hurt/Comfort fic. But alas! That didn't happen. Oh well.

There IS going to be a second part of this story. I promise! And it's gonna be really fluffy and full of Hurt/Comfort. So, till next time! ; )


	2. Family Sticks Together

A/N Hey again! I know it's taken me a while to update (what have I been DOING with my life!?) But, don't worry! The wait is over now! I'm back with some questions, though. So, I'm planning on doing another Voltron fanfiction after this one and I couldn't decide on a plot. I had a few ideas though.

I could do a "Mind Meld" one where in order to connect with one another, paladins have to share their darkest secrets.

I could do a "Truth Serum" one where one ( or all of them ) are given a Truth Serum and the truth comes out.

I could do one where one of them gets hurt and there's a lot of Fluff/ Hurt/ Comfort during their recovery phase.

Or I could do a totally different one if any of you have suggestions. Please let me know what you guys think!

And now onto the story!!!

Keith couldn't remember the last time he felt like this. The last time he felt like he was worth less than the dirt under someone's shoe. The last time he was consumed by that overwhelming feeling of being not worth something to someone. To anyone.

It was probably at the Garrison, Keith decides. After Kerberos. After the one person who made him feel like an actual human being, was snatched right out from under his nose. Gone without a trace or a warning.

'Well', Keith thinks, 'I guess I did get a warning when Shiro first told me he was going on the expedition'. But GODhe had been so stupid. To think that for once in his life he could actually amount to something. Anything. And not have it ripped out from underneath him. How may times had that happened before Kerberos? How many times had he gotten comfortable with his current life yet had it flipped in one instance? Too many to count it seems, yet Keith still didn't realize how fast one's life could change forever.

And now Keith was regretting forgetting that one little rule of life once again. The rule where you shouldn't get to comfortable with your current situation and how your life is right now. The rule where you should always be prepared for any sudden change in your daily routine, whether it be big or small. Keith swore to himself he would never forget that after his fifth foster home but here he was. Once again caught off guard as life introduced another variable. A new yet also old variable. One from his early childhood before he could even speak. A variable that, even though it wasn't around in a long, long time, still had the power to grab his heart and squeeze it until it felt like it was gonna burst. That kind of variable.

So here he was, hot, wet tears streaming down his face in a silent plea for help from anyone who saw them.'Anyone who saw them and actually cared', Keith reminded himself. Because god knows how many people have seen him cry yet turned their heads. Keith hoped that things would be different here. He had no reason to assume that however since the paladins never seemed to care for him in the slightest. 'The paladins aside from Shiro', he reminded himself. Because Shiro always found a way to show Keith he cared. And even though Keith wasn't great at returning the favor, Shiro somehow always just understood. He could read Keith like an open book. A hard read though. One that's pages were crinkled and it's words smudged. One that people saw as something that wasn't worth their time. He was everyone else's trash but Shiro's treasure and that was good enough for him.

Good enough, however, until the new yet old variable was added. The variable that introduced herself as Krolia. Keith's mother. And he knows. God he knows! He knows that he should be grateful that he gets to see his actual family while the other paladins' are stuck on earth, apart from their loved ones. He know that he should feel relieved that he can finally see his mother again. He knows that he should feel something. Anything! But all he feels is empty. Nothing. Like a glass that was used too many times. One that was cracked and had holes in it's clear exterior, but was repaired and repaired so many times you couldn't even see what it held inside anymore. He was that glass. That glass that was one crack away from completely shattering. He could already feel the pressure building. The pressure that would keep building and building until the final crack forms and he breaks forever.

So he walks and walks while ignoring the tears streaming down his face as he steadily grows closer to his room. Closer to the place where he can release the pressure and add a few more layers of duct tape to his already full collection. The loner part of him wishes he can make it to his room without having to see anyone while the child side of him wishes for one of the paladins to intercept him on his journey so they can provide him with some comfort and hopefully a few suggestions.

'They wouldn't know why I'm upset though. And they'd probably just think I'm being dumb. Maybe it would be best to run away if I saw one of them', the loner part of Keith thinks. 'But what if I tell them and they understand? Just like Shiro does? Just like dad used to...' Keith decides It's best if he just lets fate run it's course. It's not like he needs help anyways. He hasn't needed help since he was seven years old and he got pulled of the monkey bars. And even then no one came to his aid. Why should now be any different?

But it seems now was different and Keith had fully underestimated his fellow paladins because by the time he turned the last corner to enter the hallway that his room was in, he had to stop dead in his tracks. Standing in front of his door was, not one, but all of his teammates. 'And friends' he hears a voice whisper from the depths of his mind.

Keith realized, after a few seconds of staring, that if he didn't leave now he would get caught looking at them and would be forced into a conversation before he had time to repair his mask. And oh. Oh. How did his views manage to change so quickly? He must be bipolar or something because he has a feeling he shouldn't be wishing to see someone one minute and then desperatelywishing to run away the next.

But hell, did his wishes ever come true? No. The answer is no. And it seems his wishes will never start to come true. Or at least not for today because as soon as he turns to leave, he makes eye contact with Lance. Lance. Of all the people why did it have to be Lance? The one with the biggest family possible, who hates Keith to his very core and wants to torment him in any way possible. If it was anyone else he might have had the slightest chance of making then reconsider letting anyone else know, but this was Lance. And Keith knew he was screwed as soon as he saw those ocean blue eyes of his widen in recognition.

Steeling himself for the conversation to follow, Keith rolls his shoulders, runs a hand through his hair and steps fully into the hallway. By this time, everyone had already been informed that he was there and had turned their heads in his direction as they waited for him to collect himself. But Keith was very skilled in adjusting his facial features as he saw fit for the situation so by the time he turned to face them fully, his purple eyes were already set in a cool manner, his lips pulled taught and his eyebrows drawn together all in an effort to hide the emotions currently running through his brain.

Shiro takes a step forward,and of course it's Shiro. Who else would it be other than the one person in the world that know how his defense mechanisms from the inside out and can dismantle them in a matter of seconds. But really Keith shouldn't have expected anything else. And he's not quite sure why he did. Maybe it was just wishful thinking on his part. Or maybe he just really wanted someone else to show they cared once in a while. 'Way to be selfish' he thought to himself. 'Now really isn't the time for-'Keith's inner thoughts were cut off as Shiro began to speak.

"Keith", he started, taking a slow step forward as he spoke. "We heard what happened in the mess hall earlier. I'm sorry. We didn't mean to overhear." His slow approach slows to a stop as he starts to analyze Keith, his eyes roaming his face, searching for any kind of crack in his mask. And apparently he finds it really quick because in a flash he has wrapped Keith in a hug that is tight yet so very gentle at the same time and Keith knows he's going to be missing Shiro's warmth after he eventually pulls away for hours to come. But right now he just feels content in the fact that Shiro is there and Shiro knows exactly how to help him with everything.

A small cough brings him out of his trance and he pulls away from Shiro to look at the person he just had to demand his attention. His eyes widen in surpriseand a blush works its way across his face as he realizes he and Shiro have an audience. It's also at that moment that he remembers that they know. And they probably have so many questions as well as concerns about him and Krolia. 'Your mom' he reminds himself (and he's probably never going to get used to the fact that he has a mom now).

He takes a step back from the semi circle that the team ended up forming around Shiro and him. If he was gonna face the music he needed to do it his own way on his own terms. And what better way to do it then straight-to-the-point, right away?

"Krolia's my mother." His voice cracks and he decides to start again with the reason for why he's having a mental breakdown right now, in front of his team mates. He clears his throat and starts again. "Krolia's my mother...and I don't think she loves me." The silence is deafening and for a brief second Keith wonders if maybe that's what happened. Maybe he had gone deaf and not known about it. But the idea sounds absolutely absurd because how in the world would he have gone deaf without him knowing. Not that that really mattered at the moment because no one was saying anything which gave Keith the impression that he had said something wrong. So, logically, he begins talking again. "I mean it's not that I don't think she loves me at all...but...I mean...I think she loves her work more than me...? And I get it. That's understandable. She doesn't know me and I can't expect her to just drop everything just for the sake of being a mother to me but it still...hurts...? I guess...?", Keith trails off, running out of things to say, but luckily his small rant stirs something in the others and they throw themselves at him in a mix between a hug and a doggy pile.

They whisper words of comfort in his ears and remind him that he isn't alone. That he has a family right there in front of him. And they provide him with the support he needs in case he wants to have a conversation with Krol- no his mom. They hug him and he feels safer than he's ever felt because even though he's billions upon billions of light years away from earth he feels closer to home than he's ever felt and he feels more love than he's ever known.

And who knew that this small dysfunctional family of teenagers and 200 year old aliens would finally teach him what it means to be a family.

AHHHHHH!! This was SO much more angst than I wanted but I hope you enjoyed it! Where did my Hurt/Comfort go!!?? It's non-existent apparently...

Anyways! Make sure to let me know what kind of story you guys want next! You can DM me or just let me know in the comments! And make sure to leave a review if you liked it! I love reading all the comments. Some of them are actually pretty funny!

Till next time!

~Aris


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